Harvard Historical SocietyDiscover Your Town
The Whitney Portraits
These portraits portray Captain Aaron Whitney, his wife Susannah, and their sons, who lived at 165 Littleton County Road. You can view them in our Meetinghouse.
Frederick Fiske Warren
Fiske Warren is most famous as a staunch advocate of Henry George’s single-tax system, a version of which he attempted to create in Harvard.
Ida Harris
Ida was active in the Harvard Woman’s Club and in the Harvard Historical Society. She chaired a committee to gather material to update the history of Harvard from 1880 to 1940. That manuscript was only recently published.
Ann Lee
Mother Ann Lee, founder of the Shakers, established a community in Harvard in 1781, the second oldest Shaker settlement in the United States.
Elvira Scorgie
A woman of many talents, Elvira Scorgie was an authority on the history of the town of Harvard. Her research is archived at the Harvard Historical Society.
Othello
Othello, who had been given his freedom, remained a faithful servant to Colonel Henry Bromfield.
Simon Stone
Simon Stone, born c.1686, was a founding father of Harvard and served in town government.
Peter Atherton
Peter Atherton was Harvard’s first town clerk, and in that role, he entered the first records in the town books.
Florence (Burt) Haskell
Flora was inspired to join the Civil War effort as a nurse and serve under Dorothea Dix, who was recruiting for an all-female corps of nurses.
Rev. Daniel Johnson
Rev. Daniel Johnson, Harvard’s third minister, added more than 90 members to the church.
William Henry Hall
William Henry Hall, a person of color, born in Harvard on March 26, 1842, worked as a farmer and day laborer. He served in the Union Army.
Center Cemetery Tour
This tour explores the town through the graves of some of the people who shaped its history: Founding Fathers Simon Stone and Peter Atherton, the manservant Othello, Civil War soldier William Henry Hall, stonecutter Isaac Stone, philanthropist Margaret Blanchard, and adventurer William Savage.
Elijah Houghton Sr.
Elijah Houghton Sr. was a farmer who lived in Still River his entire life. He participated in the Boston Tea Party.
Colonel Henry Bromfield
The Colonel’s “picturesque figure and strong individuality made him a notable feature of the town’s life.”
Eleanor Willard Merrifield
Born in Still River in 1864, Eleanor created hand-colored photographs documenting buildings of the Harvard Shaker Village.
Clara Endicott Sears
Clara Endicott Sears was born in Boston, Mass., on December 16, 1862, the daughter of Knyvet Winthrop and Mary Crowninshield Sears.
Warren Hapgood
Warren Hapgood was born in the Old Mill district of Harvard. He was a major benefactor of the Harvard Public Library.
Amos Bronson Alcott
Amos Bronson Alcott was an American teacher, writer, philosopher, and reformer. Alcott founded Fruitlands, a transcendental experiment in communal living.
William Bowles Willard
In 1870, William Bowles Willard (1801-1891), lifelong resident of Still River, donated a pipe organ to the Still River Baptist Church.
Margaret B. Blanchard
Margaret Bromfield Pearson Blanchard is best remembered as the founder of a secondary school in Harvard, a school that encouraged education for young women as well as young men.
William Henry Savage
Born November 21, 1830, William Henry Savage was an adventurer and enlistee in the Union Army. When the Civil War began in 1861, Savage was among the first from Harvard to enlist.
Louisa May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott lived in the town of Harvard, for a short time. She moved from Concord, Mass., to Harvard in 1843 where she lived with her family until 1844.
